Overtime

Athletes always say that the best part of the game is the fans. We constantly hear athletes say, "We have the greatest fans in the world," and "We could not have won without the fans." But what makes fans great? There can be great individual fans, wearing their team's colors and being loud at games, but it is the group of fans as a whole who make them so important and nothing is more powerful than a stadium full of people shouting the same thing at the top of their lungs. Thus, it is chants that make fans great.

Since the beginning of athletics, fans have always yelled and shouted at events. Since Ancient Rome and the times of gladiators, fans have been an important aspect of games. 

During a tour of the Coliseum in Rome two summers ago, the tour guide told our group that fans were instructed to cheer at certain points of the matches – usually cheering whenever the Emperor would. After this, fans began to cheer and yell in a wild manner whenever they pleased. 

It was not until music was introduced at Ancient Roman and Greek sporting events, including the Olympic Games, that people began cheering together and in rhythm. 

Cheers kept on developing over the course of time, and made their way into modern sporting events. 

One of the first recorded sports chants is from Kansas University and their famous "Rock! Chalk! Jayhawk! KU!" chant. This was first thought of in 1886 by university scientists who thought that the school needed to show more life at school events. 

Rock Chalk, a special type of rock primarily found in Kansas, was seen as strong, and therefore, it was used in the chant. President Teddy Roosevelt praised the school for its chant, and it was so popular that it even became a war cry during World War I.

Since the "Rock Chalk" chant, colleges began developing their own school chants. The University of Tennessee began singing "Old Rocky Top" at every event; The University of Vermont, nicknamed the Catamounts, began a "Go Cats Go!" chant and many other colleges started cheers pertaining to their nicknames. After colleges started using rhythmic cheers at games, professional teams followed, and we arrive at today's day in age of sports cheers.

Now that we know the history of cheering at sporting events, we can discuss why they are what make fans so important. Picture going to a baseball game. The stadium is full and it is tied in the bottom of the ninth inning and as your favorite player is up, but there is no noise. No one is yelling or screaming, and no one is standing cheering. It is almost impossible to imagine. This is because a fan cheering has become such an expected part of the game. Without noise, a baseball game or any other sport would be boring and uneventful, and almost seem to belong in George Orwell's emotionless society in 1984.

Cheering has been a part of sports since we were children. I can remember going to my sister's little league softball games, and even though they were not necessarily great softball players, their cheers kept them excited about the games. 

Cheers such as "Free ticket, we'll take it, all aboard, choo choo!" whenever there was a walk were great. Or "We want a single, just a little single, s-i-n-g-l-e, single, single, single." Or my all-time favorite, "We want a pitcher not a belly-itcher!" These kept the kids interested in the game, since sports at young ages are usually more about socializing and making friends.

As we got older, the chants get more directed toward bringing down the other team than encouraging your own. My freshman year of high school I remember going to our school's hockey team's first game of the season and being blown away by the inappropriate comments made by the seniors in the stands. One of the more appropriate chants was "Hit him in the stomach, hit him in the head, we want blood, red, red, red!"

At almost any basketball game, if a person shoots an air ball, not only is it humiliating enough that he or she missed the hoop, but it is almost any fans' job to continually shout "Air Ball!" just to make sure that the player will not have an ounce of confidence left for the next few possessions.

The job of any fan is to "get in the head" of the opposing team, and this is best done collectively. Shouting obscenities at players, loudly booing, and just anything that could possibly distract the other team from succeeding is always encouraged. I remember going to a college basketball game at Vermont against rival Boston University. During a timeout the dance team was performing and a student yelled to BU's best player: "Stop looking at the dancers Chaz!" After the time- out Chaz Carr missed his next three shots, and allowed his opponent to score two straight baskets. Obviously the fans were at least partially responsible for this.

If fans can distract the other teams, supply noise and general rambunctiousness then their teams are in great debt to them. Without fans professional and collegiate sports may not exist, and without cheering and chanting, the sports would be dull and boring.

Without loud yelling and chanting, there would be no cheerleaders to rally the fans, and no classic stadium cheers such as "Charge" and "Defense." People would not be seen as "die-hard" fans, and there would be no way to try to insult the other team.

Chants and cheering are traditions at sporting events, and it is what athletes appreciate the most – a stadium full of people yelling at the top of their lungs. So next time you are at a game, join together with your fellow fans and get loud. Get really loud.